3 Steps on How to Select a Good Read
Time and attention are both limited resources. When we have a strong drive and trigger to read a book, we must set ourselves up to find a good read. What is a "good" read? A "good" read is a book that will enlighten you. This enlightenment can be a new thought, a new perspective, a new framework, or a new insight. While participating in a mastermind book club, I have developed my own system to ensure that I have a greater chance of finding a "good" read. This article will cover three simple steps that can be done in just 10-15 minutes to empower you to come up with a shortlist of good reads.
Step 1: Identify an area of interest
Sometimes you might not know where to start, so you ask your friends or family. You might even try to walk around a bookstore or visit an online bookselling platform to see what is displaying in the best-selling. These are all great ways to find things to read, but it might not be precisely what you will enjoy reading. Your information is limited to what the store owner chooses to display, the "catchy" title, and the attractive book cover. This is not a great way to invest your time. You are counting on the assumption that "Other people know what I should or want to read."
I recommend you to spend some time to do some self-reflection first. Here are some tactics I wrote in another article that serves as a guide to self-reflection practice. By looking inward at where you are, what you desire, and your purpose, you can find books that connect deeper to your core values.
Step 2: Cross-reference from online website and blog content.
Once you identify your area of interest (in my case, it is early childhood education, mind, body, and soul), you can go to a search engine of your preference to discover existing articles or blogs on recommendations. Using childhood education as an example, I will search for "Best books about childhood education," "Books about childhood education for parents," or "childhood education books 2020." After finding 3-5 sources, I will make a simple list to consolidate information from each source. At this time, I might have 10-20 titles on my shortlist.
Step 3: High-level scan on average rating and negative reviews on bookselling platform.
Once a shortlist is generated, I will default to three book information sources to see reader ratings. My go-to sites are Goodreads and Amazon Books. Remove a book from your shortlist if any of the following is true.
Average rating varies across platforms.
The rating profile (number of 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1) is "middle heavy" or "polarized."
The price is outside of your budget.
You might also want to peek at the readers' reviews. I found that the reviews on Amazon Books tend to be juicer Amazon Books because the reviews are slightly more personal. The key now is to let the reviews persuade us not to read this book. Put on the lens "Why don't you like about this book" to find insights. Is this book filled with anecdotes? Does this book carry repetitive content? Do people argue a lot about the concepts described in the book? These are some of the questions that I seek to answer when evaluating the reviews. Cross titles off of your list if you squint as you answer these questions.
Conclusion
With these three steps, you now have a condensed list of "good" reads that meets your interest and/or personal purpose. Value your time by taking 10-15 minutes to research and plan on your reading. If you also have an interest in reading topics related to mind, body, and soul, make sure to check out Vialchemy, where like-minded individuals participate in thoughtful and insightful knowledge sharing sessions to one's one's physical and mental well-being.
Bonus: Capitalize on machine learning recommendations
When you finish reading a book and like the book you read, go to Amazon or other bookselling platforms to search for the book. These bookselling platforms most likely have utilized some machine learning algorithm to generate recommendations or look-a-like lists. Count on the insights from these big data gems and repeat directly jump to Step 3.